crowd control

we made it to the tmuna with more than enough time to get settled. i got organized with alcohol and munchies, and took my first sips as the show began with their new music video. it's a very cool video :)

the sound wasn't fantastic, and i've never seen them give such a half-hearted performance. at first i was certain that yael was sick, and that her unusual lack of lustre was affecting the rest. as the night wore on, however, i became of the opinion that their missing energy was due to the crowd not being on the same page from the beginning.

quite frankly, i've never before been to a concert with such a large number of self-involved, loud, abrasive, busy and - worst of all - disinterested people. there was a constant racket, mostly people shouting self-congratulatory bullshit at each other or flirting ostentatiously, constant movement as if everyone was in a hurry and had someplace else to be, and that turned the place into a mess.

the worst of the lot put my nose out of joint immediately: his woman was standing next to me, and he came between us (there was barely enough space for us as it was) to snog her, and his long, slimy hair and shoulder were pushing into me. i didn't have anywhere to go, so i clenched my teeth and after a minute he moved to the other side of her.

then he began talking shit. loudly. VERY, VERY LOUDLY. i reached across to attract his attention, and asked him if he could please keep it down a bit.
"go closer," he suggested, giving me a cocky look and then resuming.

a few seconds went by before he raised his voice again, and i asked him again. this time, he got the half-drunk "try me" look that i've seen too much in this country. arsim in nice clothing are arsim no less. he reached around to push a finger into my shoulder and repeat his instruction to move closer to the stage.

that's not intelligent, civilized behaviour. there are a number of things wrong with it. the primary one, at least in my opinion of what should be his point of view, being that i'm a lot bigger than him and he'd already put me in battle mode.

i looked at him squarely in the eyes, and told him to stop.

he did it again.

i told him again. i could feel the edge that had crept into my voice. i didn't want to fight, but i was ready to climb into this bastard.

he did it again. at least, he got to touching my shoulder, but his partner finally employed a bit of emotional intelligence and stopped him. i gave him a look, turned back to the stage and found myself ready and waiting for the attack. i stayed on the alert right until i saw them walk past me on their way out about a minute later, and it took me a minute or two after that to chill out (relatively, of course) and enjoy the music again.

and for some reason, the band was in way better spirits for the last two songs. i think maybe they were just glad it was over - i suspect that the crowd was there for the video producers and not for them.

i'm really, really sorry that that was scrapper's introduction to one of the most brilliant and inspired bands that i've come across. i hope he'll enjoy the cd that i gave him when he dropped me off.

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i really dig this guy, and his insights: reuben margolin on kinetic art